Would you be surprised if I told you my children and I go for a ride with God every school day? You can come along, too.

These rides were the usual “drop kids at school” car run and initially did not begin consciously with an awareness of God’s presence. My children’s school is 9 miles away from where we live and the drive usually takes about 25 minutes each way in the morning. About two years after my oldest son started at this school, there were sudden long delays due to traffic on the return journey. The 25 minute drive turned into an hour plus journey that I began to dread. (The road infrastructure where I live sometimes presents challenges.)

Drivers often increased the one lane road by driving on the shoulder, while others took side routes and forcefully re-entered the road ahead of those patiently waiting on the approved lane, causing further delays for law-abiding drivers. This made the drive back very chaotic and just tiresome on most days. I tried two different routes to get home thinking this would solve the problem but because those roads were not well-maintained, I found myself back on the original route. I kept wondering and asking others what the cause of the problem was; where had all these other cars come from suddenly?

Around this time, I had just started my daily “spiritual identification work,” praying with the seven synonyms for God found on page 587 in the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. The definition for God found here enables one to see the vast and all-embracing nature of God and includes powerful descriptions like, “The great I AM; the all-knowing, all-seeing, all-acting, all-wise, all-loving and eternal.” Then this is followed by the synonyms—Principle, Mind, Soul, Spirit, Life, Truth, and Love. These seven synonyms “refer to the one absolute God. They are also intended to express the nature, essence, and wholeness of Deity” (Science and Health, p. 465).

Each day I prayed with one synonym. For example, I would take Soul and think about its spiritual meaning in order to identify its qualities. Soul for me represents my very essence, my identity, what makes me unique, special, and one of a kind. The spiritual qualities that I associate with these are strength, perfection, creativity, eternity, peace, newness, joy, etc. I think about how these apply to my life presently and make a conscious effort to express them throughout the day as well as to notice them being expressed by others.

One day, while sitting in traffic, I started to get very tensed up and upset as more cars forced their way back into the lane ahead by driving on the shoulder of the road. I blamed the drivers ahead for enabling this practice. The chaotic material picture, as I saw it, was due to a lack of discipline from the drivers and the poor road infrastructure in my country. I believed this to be my reality.

Then an angel thought reminded me that I was not helpless, that God was in charge of this situation as He is in all situations. From my study of the synonyms, I was well aware that discipline and order were qualities of Principle. This gentle reminder was the beginning of a turn around, a lifting up of thought from the material to the divine. I started affirming the presence and force of the only governing and orderly power, divine Principle. I acknowledged the fact that each and every driver on the road was under this same perfect rule or law of harmonious Life. Realizing I was not helpless or powerless, my thoughts were uplifted, giving me the mental relief I needed, and allowing me to relax significantly. This spiritual empowerment allowed me to let go of my human sense of right and wrong and let God show me that all is well.

At times the situation would once again seem hopeless and the temptation that chaos was winning would linger, but God’s angel messages were right there to help by reminding me of His power and the truth I could rely on. Soon, the traffic ceased as suddenly as it had started. I was very grateful to return to harmonious driving conditions and overjoyed to see God’s power demonstrated.

Why keep a good thing to yourself, right? I decided to share the daily reflection and expression of the synonyms with my children during our school runs and they took to it instantly, often reminding me if we were in the car for more than five minutes, of the synonym of the day. My youngest son, who is four, loves to remind us that God is the “Great I AM” and that He is faithful.

Sometime after we started going on our daily ride with God, as it is now known, that week’s Christian Science Bible Lesson was on God and the MyBibleLesson edition included a beautiful page with the seven synonyms and qualities they symbolize listed. I printed out a few copies to share with friends. A copy was permanently placed in the car which has been a wonderful addition.

A great benefit of identifying with and expressing, in daily life, the seven synonyms is that it teaches us not only about God but also about the nature, character, behavior, and even the thoughts of the perfect man. If Love is kind, gentle, good, wise, humble, and the source of all provision, then the perfect man naturally reflects this in kindness, gentleness, wisdom, humility and satisfaction.

It is truly a joy to follow in a small way the steps of Christ Jesus, to behold “in Science the perfect man, who appeared to him where sinning mortal man appears to mortals. In this perfect man the Saviour saw God's own likeness, and this correct view of man healed the sick. Thus Jesus taught that the kingdom of God is intact, universal, and that man is pure and holy” (Science and Health, p. 476-477).

I hope you join us each day, no matter your destination or means of transportation, mentally going for a ride with God. You can lift your consciousness up to the light of truth and freedom, keeping thought only on the magnitude of God, good. This is one ride you will always want to be on since it leads to all blessings.